Registered Independent
A package with this T-shirt arrived in the mail; from Carrie, I think. I wore it the next day to work. Prolly as good a choice as any of the real candidates.
Here's my heartbeat platform - I'd vote for one of them in a heartbeat if they would only speak up on these issues:
(1) Energy Independence: A crash-U.S. effort to become energy independent in the next 8 years. I think solar is our best opportunity. Imagine the sunny state of New Mexico. Hardly any homes have solar as a part of their roofs. Just a complete waste. Tie all this in to available power for electric vehicles.
(2) Energy Development: Solar, Nuclear, Wind, Oil (yes, drill drill drill). We're sitting on our heinies discussing all of this but doing nothing. I'm tired of all the SUVs in Santa Fe with their "Don't Drill in Santa Fe County" bumper stickers.
(3) Fix the broken systems:
(3a) While we're on energy, severely penalize big oil for gouging at the gas pump, and seriously look into price fixing. We all know theres a chart with states and districts marked off, and the oligopoly is calling out the prices in each.
(3b) Non-elective Health Care for All: The government gives the doctors a monopoly and then the doctors complain when Santa Fe County sends out a free health care van to take care of the needs of the poor. Jon says that prisoners in the jail get better (and free) health care than his roommate who has a menial job and no health insurance. Isn't it about time that we stopped 'grinding on the face of the poor' as the Book of Mormon puts it. Make it manditory to provide health insurance even to those with McJobs, or tax the heck out of the companies who wont, to fund a government plan.
(3c) Fix the banking, insurance and mortgage industries. We got this way because the Fed set the rate at 1% and the temptation was too much for the greedy investment bankers, not to borrow short term and turn around and lend long term to subprime borrowers. That's basically why AIG is down $85 billion.
So what am I? I don't know. I haven't heard clearly on these issues from either of the candidates, and economic and hurricane events of the last few days have almost silenced them. I'll bet there's 50 million people just like me, trying to decide how to vote.